ISLAMABAD, Dec 5: The federal cabinet on Wednesday decided to shift Afghan refugees living in Pakistani cities to refugee camps so that they could move to their own country once the interim setup comes in place and the situation in Afghanistan stabilizes.

The cabinet meeting, which was presided over by President Gen Pervez Musharraf, welcomed the agreement reached in Bonn for the establishment of a broad-based interim administration in Afghanistan.

Speaking on the occasion, the president said that Pakistan welcomed any agreement that had the support of all Afghan groups and would provide all possible assistance and cooperation to the interim setup in Afghanistan for the gigantic task of reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Pakistan and Iran, he said, would work together with the UNDP to facilitate rebuilding of the war-ravaged country.

According to an official announcement, the president expressed satisfaction that the events had followed the course which Pakistan had been advocating all along since the terrorists’ attack in USA.

He said he wished the interim administration headed by Hamid Karzai every success and assured him of Pakistan’s support and cooperation.

The cabinet also approved an ordinance to establish the State Bank of Pakistan Banking Service Corporation (SBPBSC) as a subsidiary of the State Bank with an authorized capital of one billion rupees.

The general superintendence and business of the subsidiary and overall policy making in respect of its operations will vest in the Board of Directors of the subsidiary which will be the same as Central Board of the State Bank of Pakistan.

The SBPBSC, under the overall supervision and control of the State Bank of Pakistan, will transact the following functions:

i) The functions and activities transferred or delegated to the subsidiary by the State Bank.

ii) Issue, supply and exchange of bank notes, prize bonds, and other serving instruments of the government.

iii) To carry out any business in connection with the affairs of the bank, including issuance of guarantee and indemnity, borrowing and lending money, deposits taking money, making of investments, purchase and hold of any property and assets and to provide any service to others against payments of fee, commission or other compensation of such services.

The cabinet also allowed the interior ministry to enter into negotiations, in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with Azerbaijan, Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Russian Federation, UAE, South Africa and Canada for finalization of extradition treaties. The extradition treaties will facilitate surrender of fugitive offenders.

In order to make maximum use of daylight and to save energy, the cabinet decided to adopt the daylight saving scheme. It has been decided to advance the clocks by one hour on the night between the first Saturday and Sunday of April and revert to the original position on 15th October each year.

Around 80 countries of the world switch forward their clocks in summer to make maximum use of day light and save energy. Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Algeria and Syria are amongst the Muslim countries already following the daylight saving system. This system has been adopted for one year only on experimental basis.